An external drive is just a hard drive in a plastic or metal box — and it fails in the same ways, plus a few of its own. A knocked-over portable, a data recovery external hard drive that won’t mount, a desktop unit that clicks, or a bridge board that’s died and left a healthy drive unreadable: we see all of it. Whether you searched external hard drive recovery or data recovery external drive, the diagnosis is free and no-recovery-no-fee applies.
If it’s clicking or wasn’t recognised, repeatedly plugging it in and out only risks more damage. Leave it, and let us diagnose the enclosure and the drive separately.
The first job with any external is to tell whether the problem is the enclosure or the drive inside it. A dead USB bridge board or a failed power supply can leave a perfectly healthy drive looking dead — opening the enclosure and reading the drive directly brings it straight back. If the drive itself has failed — heads, motor, or a dropped portable with physical damage — that’s a physical recovery, opened under a laminar-flow hood. Many “dead” externals are simply the box, not the disk.
Portable 2.5″ drives are the ones most often dropped, and a fall while powered on is the worst case: the heads can touch the platters and start clicking. Powered off at once, the odds are good — a head swap under our laminar-flow hood and a careful image usually get the data back. Powered on and left to “try again”, the damage spreads. The rule with a dropped, clicking external is simple: unplug it and don’t plug it back in.
We recover WD My Passport and Elements, Seagate Expansion and Backup Plus, LaCie rugged drives, Toshiba Canvio and every other portable and desktop external, USB and USB-C alike. Hardware-encrypted models — where the encryption lives on the bridge board — need the original enclosure electronics, so send the whole unit, cable included, not just the bare drive.
Often not. A failed USB bridge or power adaptor can hide a completely healthy drive. We open the enclosure and read the drive directly, which brings a lot of “dead” externals straight back. If the drive itself has failed, we recover it under our laminar-flow hood.
Yes — unplug it and leave it unplugged. Clicking after a drop is a head problem, and every extra power-on risks the platters. Bring or post it to us and we’ll open it under a laminar-flow hood and recover it.
The whole unit, including the cable and any power supply. Some externals are hardware-encrypted on the bridge board, and without the original electronics the data can’t be unlocked.
Usually, provided we have the original enclosure electronics and, where relevant, your password or key. That’s exactly why we ask for the whole unit rather than the bare drive.
A free diagnosis first, always — then a fixed written quote before any work begins, and no fee at all on most jobs if the data doesn’t come back. Enclosure and bridge-board faults are typically a lower fixed price than a physical mechanical recovery, and you’ll know which yours is after the free diagnosis. Drop your device at our Leeds address in The Pinnacle, or post it in fully insured from anywhere in Yorkshire; whichever route it takes, it’s handled in-house by our own engineers and never outsourced.
Free diagnosis, a fixed quote in writing, and no fee on most jobs unless your data comes back. If it’s clicking, stop plugging it in and get it to us.